don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground
by fairytalelights
Summary: /everything i need is right here by my side./ Dani's in San Fransokyo, and there's a pretty cute waiter at the Lucky Cat Cafe. Hiro may just have a thing for the blue-eyed girl hanging around the cafe recently. Unfortunately, spending time with Hiro means that Dani's getting a whole lot more than she ever bargained for.
1. at the lucky cat

**well, i think Dani and Hiro are kind of cute. don't you? **

* * *

><p>For the love of Ember McLain's music, why the <em>hell <em>is she doing this?

She's Dani Phantom, honorary cousin/twin of Danny Phantom, one of the only three halfas in existence, and a serious kickass fighter who's been living on the streets for years.

So why the hell is she reducing herself to this?

_You've been on your own too long_, she chides herself as she pushes open the door of the Lucky Cat Café and makes her way inside. It's not very crowded, just a whole group of girls in one of the booths who are probably only here to stare at Tadashi, and two or three couples, and a lone teenager listening to music and bent down over his books. Dani slides into her usual seat, a table by the window, and tugs at her jacket sleeves.

She glances around, almost covertly, for _him_.

She has to stop herself from hitting her head on the window next to her. She can't believe she's doing this. She can't believe that she is actually here, still in the same town after nearly a month, just because she thinks that the bloody waiter is _cute_.

She's seen cute guys before, obviously. Travelling around the world gives you that kind of opportunity.

But she's never stayed this long in the same place before just for a guy.

_Turning fourteen makes you do stupid things_, Dani thinks to herself, glumly. To be honest, she doesn't even know what it is about this guy that makes her hang around skulking in this cafe. Not that she doesn't like the cafe - it's amazing - but seriously, what is it about this guy?

A throat is cleared next to her, and Dani raises her head as a voice says: "Can I get your order?"

She freezes.

_Shit this is not good _–

"Where's Tadashi?" she asks almost instantly, biting her lip as she glances up at the waiter.

Short and skinny, messy dark hair that looks like it's exploding over his head, large, warm brown eyes that blink as their owner absorbs her words. Oh, man - he is _cute_. Freaking adorable.

She tries to banish the thoughts from her mind.

Maybe it's Dani's imagination, but she thinks his face falls slightly as he processes what she says.

_Shit._

Dani wants to scream. It is not part of the plan to actually have to _talk_ to him.

Those large eyes of his are seriously distracting, and his hair –

"Um, he's taking orders over there." The boy jerks his head over to where Tadashi is at the table full of giggling girls. "But if you want him to take your order, too – "

"No!" she says, hurriedly. "No, it's fine, I just – he just usually knows what I order, that's all. I'll get the – "

"A soda and spicy chicken wings with cheesy fries?" the boy supplies, and he grins, almost nervously, as Dani raises her eyes to look at him in surprise. Oh, hell, he really is so much cuter up close, and is that – is that a gap between his front teeth? Shit. That's pretty adorable. Okay, Dani, stop. "Your order's a pretty familiar one. Tadashi's always saying he can never understand how you can eat so much."

"Hey!" she says indignantly, sitting up straight. "I've got a big appetite, that's all."

"And a bottomless pit for a stomach," the boy grins at her. "You want anything else?"

Dani manages a grin, shakes her head. "Nah, I'm good."

"Well, if you need anything, just let me know," he offers, and he grins at her _again_ and _oh man he is so cute. _He's backing away when he nearly knocks into the empty table behind him, and Dani has to hold back a laugh as he flushes red and stumbles back onto his feet and straightens the table.

"Not funny," he says, jabbing the wooden pencil in his fingers at her, making a face.

"You're right, it's hilarious," she tells him, and she has to bite back another laugh as he makes another face and this time he disappears behind the counter.

There is a smile growing on Dani's face as she turns to stare out the window.

Okay, so maybe talking to him isn't _that _bad.

* * *

><p>Hiro nearly collapses against the wall when he disappears through the door behind the counter, and Aunt Cass glances up with a smile.<p>

"Finally talked to her?" she asks, knowingly.

Hiro nods his head vigorously.

One month. That's how long she's been coming here, sitting at the same table, ordering the same meal every time she comes, which is nearly every day of the week. She always sails in in her scruffy jeans and faded jacket and red hat with her long dark hair behind her and she always slides into her seat and swings her legs as she waits for Tadashi to come over and take her order.

Okay, he'll admit it. He's been staring. A lot.

Secretly, of course. He doesn't want her to think he's some kind of creepy stalker. Because he's _not_.

He doesn't even know her name.

Although he has memorised her order, and just how much soda she drinks, and the amount of fries she usually eats, and the fact that she always wears the same jacket but she's always alternating the shirt underneath (usually it goes from red to black to white to green to blue) and her jeans all look the same and she wears bright red Converse sneakers the same shade as her hat and she doesn't like _too _much cheese on her fries and she doesn't have a problem with spicy food –

Then Tadashi bursts in through the doorway.

"You finally did it!" he cheers, and he drags Hiro into a one-armed hug. "You talked to her! I'm so proud of you, knucklehead!"

"'Dashi – " Hiro mumbles as he wriggles out of his older brother's grasp, face flushed: "Not so loud!"

Tadashi waves a hand dismissively. "She's not going to be able to hear from _here_. I can't believe you would rather risk that table of giggling girls than go talk to her! Aren't you glad I took their orders instead and forced you to go over?"

"She asked for _you_," Hiro tells him.

Tadashi shrugs. "I'm the only one who's ever taken her order before. Of course she'll ask for me."

"Boys," Aunt Cass says in a familiar tone, "someone has to take care outside, remember?"

"Absolutely," Tadashi beams at her, and he slides her the paper with orders scrawled on it. "I'll do that. Hiro can bring the food to her."

"'Dashi – "

"No arguments!" Tadashi tells him, cheerfully. "You've been pining over her for a month and you don't even know her name or the first thing about her! You can tell her it's your break and sit with her or something – "

"Isn't that what you did with that Holly Shiftwell girl or something – "

"It's not my fault she has a protective older brother! Anyway, there were plenty of empty tables then so it was kind of stupid – "

"There are lots of empty tables now!"

"But you're delivering her food to her," Tadashi says, as if this solves everything. "Hiro, you'll be _fine_."

"What if she has an angry overprotective boyfriend?" Hiro demands. "Look at her, she's _amazing_, you can't seriously tell me – "

"Go," says Aunt Cass, as she shoves a tray into his arms and pushes him out the door. "Come on, Hiro – Tadashi, what's that phrase GoGo likes to use – "

"Woman up," Tadashi supplies, helpfully.

Aunt Cass snaps her fingers. "Exactly! Now go get her!"

The door shuts behind him and Tadashi, who gives him another shove in her direction.

Between Aunt Cass and Tadashi, Hiro's not sure if he really has much of a choice.

* * *

><p>When he reappears with the chicken wings and the fries and the soda, Dani has to force her heart to stop beating so quickly.<p>

Luckily, she's a halfa. She actually _does _have control over things like this.

"That was fast," she says, with a smile, as he carefully places the tray on the table and starts setting the plates down.

Is it just her, or is his face flushed red? "Well, yeah, I mean – yeah. Uh, Aunt Cass saw you come in and she knows your order, so – uh. Yeah."

He grins at her, almost weakly.

"Oh," she says, because _shit _she has no idea what to say. "Oh, wow. That's really nice of her. Your aunt, I mean."

She nods her head, and she drags the soda over so that she won't be stuck looking, or sounding, like an idiot.

"Aunt Cass is fantastic," he agrees, and then his face suddenly flames again and he stutters, "It's my break now, so I was kind of thinking – maybe I could sit here, with you? For a while?"

Yes, thank _goodness _she can control the rate of her heartbeat, or else she's pretty sure she'd be palpitating by now. "Yeah, sure. Of course."

There's a look of relief on his face as he slides into the seat next to her. "Thanks." He pauses, and then he says, "I always see you come in."

_He sees her come in_!

_Breathe, Dani, _she reminds herself.

She shrugs, smiles. "Your aunt's chicken wings are amazing. They're the best I've ever tasted."

He beams. "Yeah, they are." He pauses, and then adds, "I'm Hiro. Like, H-_i -_r-o. Not h-_e-_r-o."

Introductions! She loves introductions. Although she thinks this might be the best one yet.

"I'm Dani," she says, and she grins. "D-a-n-_i_."

"Dani," he repeats, and he grins at her, kind of goofily, and she thinks that, _okay, _maybe talking to him should've been part of the plan long ago.

* * *

><p>"If you want, I can show you around San Fransokyo one day," Hiro offers, when he finds out that even though she's been living in the city for a month she still doesn't really know her way around. He has no idea how long they've been sitting and talking, because all he can really focus on is her bright blue eyes and her carefree laugh and the way the conversation seems to shift from video games to ghosts to robots to boxes to hospitals to punk rock to comic books -<p>

Dani brightens. "Really?"

Hiro nods his head vigorously. "Yeah! I mean, I've grown up here practically my whole life, so I kind of know my way around. But uh – I could get your number, or something. You know. So we can arrange a meeting - ?"

He looks at her hopefully. _Oh god what is he doing did he just screw himself over what if she doesn't want to know him – _

But she beams at him, and she fishes out a pen out of her jeans pocket and she leans over the table and scribbles something on his arm.

Her hand is very small and very fair and very smooth, and he can feel that it's unnaturally cold as she presses her hand against his arm so she can write properly and _please please please don't let her feel his heart beating unnaturally fast – _

When she lifts her hand, he has to school his expression quickly because he is _not _going to break out into a stupid grin that will be a dead giveaway.

_She just gave him her number_!

"I'm free whenever," she tells him, and the smile on her face is blinding.

He nods so hard his hair falls over into his eyes more than it usually does. "Sure," he stammers. "I'll text you?"

"Sounds great," she tells him, cheerfully, and then her eyes flicker to the clock on the wall and she makes a face. "Oh, man, I've got to go – "

She digs out a handful of notes and coins from her pocket, counts it in seconds and pushes it over to Hiro across the table. She slides off the seat, bounces on her feet and beams: "So – I guess I'll see you around?"

"Definitely," he says.

_So it's a date_, he thinks, and he has to contain the goofy smile on his face as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and grins at him _again_. It's like she has an endless supply of smiles and grins and her whole face lights up every time she gives him one.

Maybe he should've started taking her orders a lot sooner.

"See you, then!"

Hiro raises a hand and waves as she practically skips out the door and down the road, her long dark hair swinging behind her – and then he raises his hand and punches his fist into the air triumphantly: "Yes!"

Outside, on the street, out of sight of the Lucky Cat Café, Dani lets out a whoop and leaps into the air.

* * *

><p><strong>um, any comments? haha<strong>


	2. outfits and phone calls

"Are you – are you trying on my clothes?"

Tadashi stops at the top of the stairs that lead up into the loft he and his brother share, blinking in disbelief at the sight of Hiro tugging at the sleeves of one of Tadashi's blazers, in folded-up pants. They're some of his old clothes, so they fit Hiro reasonably well, but to see Hiro in anything outside of his hoodie and cut-offs are _strange_, to say the least.

"Yes," Hiro mutters, miserably, dragging off the blazer and backing away from the full-length mirror to throw himself onto the bed.

"And do I get to know _why_ you're trying on my clothes?"

Tadashi walks further into the room, dropping his bag in his side of the room before plonking himself down onto Hiro's bed next to the fourteen-year-old.

He gets a muffled answer in response.

"C'mon, knucklehead!" Tadashi tugs him out from under his covers. "What's going on?"

Hiro shrugs, but then, as if without really thinking, glances over at his phone.

Tadashi catches on immediately.

"You asked Dani out on a date?"

"It's not a date!" Hiro protests hotly, sitting upright. "I just offered to take her around San Fransokyo. I _told _you that."

"I also thought you said you hadn't texted her," Tadashi grins, and the guilty look on Hiro's face says it all: "Wait, you _haven't _texted her?"

"I did!" Hiro says, his face now flushed red. "I asked her if Friday would be a good day. And I'm waiting for her reply."

"You do realise today is Tuesday. And she gave you her number on, like, Saturday."

Hiro scratches his head, buries his face in his hands. Oh god, this is _embarrassing_. He's put off texting Dani for days because he's been worried that he'll seem too eager. He's never really had friends before, much less friends who are _girls_, and he has no idea how to go about talking to them.

Although he'll admit that talking to Dani is really easy. And fun.

But still! _Texting _a girl? Much less asking her about a day to go out with him?

He runs through the words of his text to her in his mind again, worriedly:

_Hey Dani, it's Hiro! The guy from the Lucky Cat Café, remember? Well, if you don't remember…well, this is gonna be really embarrassing for me. Anyway, I was wondering, are you free on Friday to go out for that tour of San Fransokyo we were talking about?_

Oh, man. Has he made it sound too much like he's trying to ask her out on a date? Maybe he's sounded too friendly in his message? It's been at least half an hour since he texted her and he still hasn't gotten a reply. Oh, man. He doesn't want to freak her out, what if she thinks he's creepy or weird or –

"Hiro. _Hello_. Earth to Hiro?"

He blinks and raises his head to see Tadashi looking down at him, an amused smile on his face.

"Were you trying on my clothes to wear for your date with her?" he wants to know.

"It's not a date!"

"You're not answering the question."

Hiro opens his mouth and then shuts it again, his face turning red.

"I don't even know where to _take _her," Hiro groans. "What was I thinking when I offered that tour? Why didn't you stop me? I don't even know what she likes! I mean, there's all those famous landmarks and museums and stuff, and then there are all those weird cafes you sometimes bring me to, and there are the arcades and shops I go to, and – "

"_Hiro_!"

Hiro falls silent, then peeks up at his big brother from the corner of his eyes. Tadashi's still got that amused smile on his face, but his face is softer now.

"Relax," Tadashi says. "You'll be _fine_. I'll help you, all right?"

"You will?"

"Sure I will." Tadashi grins and ruffles his hair again, ignoring his protests: "But seriously, I don't think Dani's the kind that will be too concerned with looks. If she likes you, it better be for yourself. Let's go find something to wear that's more _you _and isn't something of mine, okay?"

* * *

><p>For all her excitement and energy after leaving the Lucky Cat Café on Saturday, Dani can't help but glower when Hiro's message finally comes in on Tuesday.<p>

Three days. _Three days_. Does it really take that long to text someone?

She checks the message timing. _14:07. _Nearly forty-five minutes ago. She hasn't realised she's been flying above the city for so long.

She hoists herself up and through the window into an old disused warehouse she's been using as a temporary home. It's a great place, really. It's huge and big and she has it all to herself, and no one ever sees her climb in and out because it's in a more abandoned part of the city.

She considers the message, before typing out a reply of her own.

_Hey Hiro! Don't worry, I remember. Friday sounds great! What time's good?_

Sure, it sounds a little short and choppy, maybe, but to be fair, she doesn't really like texting or emoticons and all that nonsense very much.

She thinks of Hiro's goofy grin and his messy hair and their conversation, and something flips over in her stomach. Maybe she should try to sound nicer or more upbeat or happy or something. Hell, she's been in this place for a month practically all because of him, and, okay, he really is kind of cool and maybe kind of cute – maybe she should try sounding a bit more enthusiastic?

Urgh. She bets she gets this second-guessing herself straight from Danny's genes.

She considers her text.

_Hey Hiro! Don't worry, I remember you. It'd be hard not to! And Friday sounds great. What time's good for you?_

Okay, slightly better.

She sends it before she can overthink.

And then she realises another problem.

* * *

><p>Back in Amity Park, Valerie frowns at the unknown number showing on her cell before picking it up, putting it to her ear cautiously: "Hello?"<p>

"Valerie! It's Dani! You know, Dani with an _i_?"

Immediately a smile breaks out over Valerie's face, and she sinks onto a park bench, dropping her bag onto the seat next to her. "Dani? Hey! It's great to hear from you! It's been months since I last saw you."

"Two and a half," Dani supplies, cheerfully. "But, uh, this call isn't just to catch up. I kind of – I kind of have a problem."

"A problem?" Valerie's on the alert immediately. Half-ghost the kid might be, but Valerie _likes _her. She thinks immediately of Vlad Masters, despite what Dani's told her about how Vlad has finally agreed to let the halfa travel on her own and has promised _not _to chase her down, and instead is providing whatever financial assistance the girl needs. Valerie doesn't trust the guy, but Dani's said something about how Plasmius has finally gotten over wanting to clone Phantom and therefore doesn't need her, or whatever that means. "What kind of a problem?"

"I'm kind of going out with someone on Friday and I – I don't know what to wear."

There is a long pause.

"Valerie?"

"Oh my gosh!" Valerie is nearly squealing; she supposes she should be more embarrassed, but a huge smile is splitting her face: "You have a _date_!"

"What? No! I mean, yes it's a guy, but it's not a date! He's just showing me around the city – "

"Don't even think about covering this up, kid," says Valerie, grinning and leaning back on the park bench. "Who is this guy? How old is he? He'd better not be seventeen or something, because seriously – a seventeen-year-old asking out a fourteen-year-old? Okay, no, wait, actually seventeen isn't that bad, eighteen, on the other hand – "

"Val!"

"Okay, okay," she chuckles. "Where are you, anyway?"

"This city called San Fransokyo."

San Fransokyo. It rings a bell in Valerie's mind, though she can't remember where she's heard the city before, exactly – from her dad, maybe? She'll have to go and ask.

"Is this guy okay?" she wants to know.

Dani laughs: "You can do a search on him, if you want. His name's Hiro Hamada."

"Huh. Interesting name."

"Mm-hmm."

Valerie can't help the smile that's spreading across her face as she catches the tone in Dani's voice. The girl's got it _bad_.

"So what's that problem you needed help with again?"

"Oh. That." She sounds embarrassed now. "It's just – what should I wear? I mean, all I've got are my jeans and shirts and jackets, and – "

"Hang on a minute," Valerie says, still grinning: "Didn't you say this wasn't a date? Why are you getting all worried about your outfit?"

There's a long pause on the other end, and she can hear Dani clearing her throat nervously.

She chuckles again.

"My advice, kid?" she says. "Don't try too hard, don't get all dressed up. If he likes you, it should be for you, and your hoodies and your jeans and that stupid red hat of yours."

"Hey, I like my hat!"

"It's still stupid." Valerie chuckles again, and then she remembers something else: "Does Danny know about this? Danny Fenton, I mean."

Dani's never explained the relationship between her and the Fentons' youngest son, and Valerie gets that it's a touchy subject. She supposes that Danny must have found out about Dani somehow, and helped her out, just like how Phantom's helped Dani's ghost half out. And she guesses that Dani probably owes Danny Fenton a lot, too – being a half ghost and having the son of two of the ghost hunters in Amity Park with some of the best ghost equipment as a friend has to help the kid out. From what Valerie can see, though, whenever Dani drops into town, both Danny and Phantom are always ready to help her out.

And despite her problems with Phantom, she thinks it's kind of sweet.

And Danny – well, he's Danny. Valerie won't deny that she still may just like him a little. And seeing him treat Dani as a younger sister only just makes her smile.

"Are you kidding me?" Dani says, sounding slightly horrified. "He'll go all over protective!"

"He should," Valerie says.

"Aw, c'mon, Val! You know I can take care of myself!"

"Well, still be careful, kid. I'm gonna do some checking up on that guy. And remember – don't overdress, but don't be too casual, okay? Wear a nice shirt or a nicer pair of jeans or something! Didn't you say Vlad gave you a card or something?"

"He did," says Dani, cheerfully. Valerie wonders how the girl can seem so relaxed about technically being in the debt of a guy who's tried to kill her, and she supposes that there's probably more to the story than she knows – that, and despite all the things she's seen, the fact that Dani's really still a trusting kid at heart. "Maybe I should get some new clothes?"

"As long as you've got an excuse to shop, you should make use of it," says Valerie.

"I'll take your advice on that. Thanks, Valerie!"

"No problem, kid."

She hangs up and stares at her cell in her hand, an almost wistful smile on her face. Man, she really misses that kid.

Hmm. Hiro Hamada.

This boy better not be trouble, or the Red Huntress is going to make her way to San Fransokyo and test out the upgrades to her ghost-hunting equipment on humans.


	3. good days

**yay! so here's chapter three. thanks for the reviews guys, and the favs and follows. and don't worry, i will definitely throw in some overprotective Danny soon. heh. too good _not _to write about him.**

**hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>"You've been fidgeting for the past twenty minutes."<p>

"I have not."

"Yes, you have! Oh my goodness this is _so _exciting. You're on your first date – "

"Aunt Cass, it's not a date – "

"Oh, look, is that her?"

Hiro cranes his neck as he tries to peer out of the windows of the Lucky Cat Café, Aunt Cass close behind him. He can practically hear her breathe down his neck – _that's _just how excited she is. Actually, Hiro thinks that Aunt Cass might be more excited than him. He's currently trying to remember how to breathe. Thank God Tadashi's already at school, because he really can't handle another curious bystander right now.

It _is _her. He can see her skipping along the pavement with her red hat and in new-looking jeans and a bright rainbow tank top, her dark hair up in a ponytail, earpieces plugged in.

He runs over his clothes again. It's nothing special, just another pair of pants and another shirt and his blue hoodie, and he's actually tried to get his hair in order but clearly it hasn't worked because it's still sticking up all over the place. He hopes that he looks okay.

He has to swallow.

Is that his heart racing? Because he thinks it is. But that's ridiculous, because she's just another girl and technically, logically, there is no way that his heart rate should increase when he sees her –

She walks in through the café doors and he feels a grin split his face.

"Hiro!"

She practically bounces over to the counter, yanking her earpieces off and stuffing them into her pocket. She gives him what must be a thousand-megawatt smile and oh god it feels like he's melting but that's not scientifically possible –

"You must be Dani!" Aunt Cass is shaking the girl's hand up and down energetically, enthusiastically, grinning widely from ear to ear. "I'm Hiro's Aunt Cass, I make those spicy wings you always order with the hot sauce – I've heard so much about you, I swear, he never stops talking about you, and especially since last Friday he just goes on and on and on – "

"_Aunt Cass_!" Hiro's face is scarlet and he fiddles with the sleeves of his jacket. "I don't – I'm not – "

He sends a frantic look at Dani, who is grinning brightly.

"He has?" she says, and she smiles over at him, and for some reason Hiro finds himself straightening up, grinning at her brightly. If she's not creeped out by what Aunt Cass has said about him talking non-stop about Dani – _which_, by the way, is totally and completely untrue because that would just be weird, right? – then he's got no reason to be embarrassed. Not particularly. "Whatever he's said, I am totally innocent of, by the way."

"Don't worry, it was only the good stuff!" Aunt Cass is beaming so brightly it's like Christmas has come early. "Will you be coming over for dinner later? Hiro's too shy to ask, but, you know, it'll be great to have you – "

"Aunt Cass!"

That's it. He is officially, totally, completely embarrassed by his aunt.

"I'd love to stay for dinner!" Dani tells her, beaming. "I mean, if it's no trouble – "

"No, no, none at all!" Aunt Cass says, and she smiles again: "Don't get back too late, okay? Tadashi says he'll be back by eight today!"

"Yes, Aunt Cass," Hiro recites dutifully.

Aunt Cass just sends another massive smile. Hiro hopes she doesn't ask to take a photo. "Oh, my goodness – okay, okay, go on! Don't let me interrupt!"

Hiro sends Dani a grin, and she's grinning back at him, and the next thing he knows she is trailing him out the door of the Lucky Cat Café.

* * *

><p>It is a ridiculously, incredibly good day.<p>

Hiro finds out that Dani likes video games and outer space and she doesn't like shopping and she likes ghosts, too. She ends up telling him all about some place called the Ghost Zone and some ghost hero called Danny Phantom and it's like she's almost flying as she skips along the pavement.

Dani finds out that Hiro is a genius and for a moment that makes her feel kind of inadequate because, hey, it's not like she's ever been to school before, but somehow he doesn't make her feel stupid and he ends up telling her all about his inventions and his cat Mochi and his big brother Tadashi and bot fighting.

It's this last part she's interested in most.

They're walking back to the Lucky Cat Café and the sun is sinking, and she prods him endlessly about bot fighting and about Megabot.

Sure, she's seen the fights when she soars over the city at night. Sometimes she even drops down, invisible and intangible, to watch people rip each other's bots apart.

But actually _being _there, and taking part?

That's pretty sick.

"Do you think you could take me one of those days?" she asks, eagerly, as they near the café.

Hiro nearly chokes and falls flat on his face. Thankfully, Dani's got quick reflexes and yanks him up before he can do anything even more remotely embarrassing.

Although, he'll admit that they've both been tripping around a lot today. Dani's a complete klutz, and it's like she doesn't even care or get embarrassed about it. Probably because of her super-lightning-quick reflexes.

"It's crazy dangerous," he tells her.

"Are you kidding me? That's the fun part! Besides, it's not like I've got much to do." She shrugs her shoulders. "Aw, c'mon, Hiro!"

She looks at him pleadingly, and good Lord this _is totally unfair_. He can feel himself crumbling like a sandcastle being caught in an incoming tide.

_Not fair_.

"It's dangerous," he repeats, a bit more weakly this time. He's pretty sure that if she asks him again, he's going to end up giving in to her. Despite his better judgement.

"Aw, Hiro – "

Does she have to say his name like that? Or look at him with those big blue eyes?

Because seriously, he can feel himself crumbling even more. This is so, totally, completely unfair.

But then, this _is _bot fighting. He's probably the best in San Fransokyo, because _damn _is he good at what he does. It's not like he ever really gets hurt, anyway; he's just got to know to make a quick escape. Plus, he's totally in his element while bot fighting.

Not like at one of the monuments in San Fransokyo, where he'd tried to recall what he'd learnt from history and failed miserably and ended up having to Google it to tell Dani what it was.

Besides, he's totally an expert at bot fighting.

And this will totally be a chance to show her another side of San Fransokyo.

It's not like he's trying to _show off _or impress her or anything. That would be ridiculous.

"Well," he concedes, finally, "I guess that would be, you know, okay."

She leaps so high into the air that Hiro thinks irrationally, for a moment, that she's flying: "_Awesome_!"

* * *

><p>She does end up staying for dinner, and hell, she eats nearly as much as Hiro does.<p>

And considering that Hiro is practically a black hole when it comes to food – that is a _lot_.

She wolfs down food like there's no tomorrow, gulping down spicy wing after spicy wing and adding a ridiculous amount of hot sauce. Tadashi can only stare in something like disbelief, as does Aunt Cass.

Hiro, who has seen her gulp down two burgers and an extra-large fries and an upsized soda for lunch, only grins and munches on his own dinner.

"So, Dani," Tadashi says, finally, after half an hour of hearing from both Dani and Hiro just how _awesome _today's tour was, "how's school?"

"I don't go to school," Dani tells him, after swallowing another mouthful of chicken drenched in hot sauce (seriously, how does _anyone _manage to swallow down that much hot sauce?). "I kind of just travel around a lot, you know? I don't really go to school anywhere."

"Your family travels a lot?" Aunt Cass wants to know.

A strange expression crosses Dani's face before she grins her thousand-megawatt smile. It's only a flash, but Tadashi knows that expression instantly.

After all, it's the same one he has whenever he tries to hide something from Hiro, for his own sake.

"You could say that," she says, and she swallows down more chicken.

"Okay, that was actually kind of a lame question, wasn't it?" Tadashi admits, grinning. "What do you like to do, then?"

"She likes ghosts," Hiro pipes up.

Aunt Cass blinks. "Ghosts?"

Dani nods eagerly. "Yeah, ghosts? You know there's this place called Amity Park – "

" – the most haunted town in the US – " provides Hiro.

They spend the next fifteen minutes telling the older Hamadas all about Amity Park, the Ghost Zone, and some ghost hero called Danny Phantom and the ghost hunters called the Fentons and another ghost hunter called the Red Huntress.

Tadashi figures that this must be one of Dani's favourite topics, because Hiro seems just as well-versed in this topic, and Tadashi knows that ghosts have never been Hiro's thing. Robots and mechanics and math – _that's _Hiro's thing. Ghosts fall into the realm of supernatural, and while supernatural is fun every once in a while, it's definitely not science.

Hence, the Hamada brothers don't delve into it so much.

Tadashi thinks, too, that Dani is good for Hiro.

It's like he's lit up like a Christmas tree, glowing more brightly by the minute as they talk.

And Tadashi thinks that maybe Hiro's good for Dani, too. Sure, he's only ever seen her around in the café when taking her order and occasionally chatting, but she's more animated than he's ever seen her before and she definitely looks seriously happy.

Yeah. They're pretty good for each other.

* * *

><p>It's past nine when they finally clear up the dessert plates (seriously, how many slices of chocolate cake can that girl eat?) and Hiro offers to walk Dani home.<p>

Tadashi nearly chokes on his drink at that, because this is _Hiro_, who likes to spend his days lazing around the café or the house or the lab.

"I'm good," she tells him, but there is, for a moment, the flicker of a strange expression on her face that Tadashi catches, before she grins brightly. "I can get home fine. Besides, uh, there are people watching out for me." She rolls her eyes, as if this is a joke, and then she grins again. "Thanks for today, Hiro."

"Yeah, uh, sure." Hiro is beaming at her, smiling almost shyly. "So, uh, I was thinking – you wanna do this again sometime? I mean, San Fransokyo is a big city, and Aunt Cass loves people who loves food and she loves cooking, and, you know – " He swallows, grins sheepishly: "We could do whatever. We could go up and play video games, too, if you want to. Or, you know, whatever works."

_Aw_. Tadashi wishes he had a camera to capture this moment, but Aunt Cass is still upstairs and he's left his phone in his room.

"Are you kidding me?" says Dani. "That'd be amazing." Yes, she is grinning at him, grinning so widely it looks like her face might split.

"So – I'll call you?" Hiro asks, hopefully, as he opens the door for Dani.

"Yeah, and don't take four days to do it, would you?" she asks, and she looks as if she is trying to hold back laughter, her eyes glinting.

Hiro chuckles nervously, runs a hand through that mane he calls his hair.

"Definitely," he says. "I'll call you tomorrow?"

"You'd better," she says. "I'm up for video games any time. And San Fransokyo's a pretty cool city."

Goddammit, they're so cute that Tadashi finds himself smiling at them over the rim of his glass.

"So – see you around!" Hiro calls after her as she starts to head down the pavement, her hands sliding into her jeans pockets, turning so she's walking backwards, so she can grin and wave at Hiro one last time.

"Good night," Tadashi hears her say, faintly.

"Good night," he hears Hiro call, and when Hiro finally shuts the door and locks up there is a huge goofy smile on his face, and Tadashi can't help but leap over and ruffle his brother's hair and get him in a headlock.

"Good day?" he asks, tackling his brother who tries to wriggle out of his grasp.

Hiro relaxes abruptly, and the goofy smile on his face grows wider.

"Definitely a good day," answers Hiro.

Tadashi falls asleep listening to his little brother texting non-stop on his phone. It's not the first time (at least, ever since he met Dani, because seriously, Hiro has practically zero friends apart from Tadashi), and he figures it won't be the last.

He hopes that it doesn't escalate to _calling _at one am. Because really, if it comes to that, Tadashi is totally putting his foot down.

Although, he'll have to admit, it is kind of maybe just a little bit cute.


	4. late night bot fights

Dani isn't used to making friends on her travels.

Sure, she's a friendly enough person. She gets along with everyone she runs into; shop owners, dog walkers, kids on the sidewalk, old ladies with their cats. She especially gets along with the kids at the orphanages she usually ends up helping out at, whenever she stops at a city for a particularly long period of time – after all, she has to find _something _to do with her time, doesn't she?

But all that aside, she doesn't often really make friends. It's difficult to make friends, because people want to know everything about you, who you are, what you do, about your parents, about school, and everything in between.

It's one of the reasons she heads back to Amity Park every few months, because she _does _have friends there. Danny and Valerie, and more recently, Sam and Tucker and Jazz. Travelling's fun, but so is being with friends.

So it's really kind of _nice _to find herself hanging out with Hiro more and more often.

After that tour of San Fransokyo, she finds herself heading to the Lucky Cat Café more often than not. Sure, she still spends a couple of hours flying every day – San Fransokyo is just plain _amazing _from above, and flying's a good way to just be free – and she still spends most mornings at the orphanages around San Fransokyo (the ones that will let her in, anyway), but other than that, almost all her time is at the Lucky Cat.

And honestly, she can't think of any other way she'd like to spend her days.

She ends up at the counter most days now, with a cup of chocolate and usually a plate of cookies or something similar. Cass has always got a smile for her, and Tadashi always has a grin and likes to lean over and ruffle her hair, and always, always, Hiro jumps up onto the seat next to her and ends up talking to her.

It gets so that she doesn't start stammering on her words and flushing every time he pops up next to her, and to be honest, Dani kind of likes it better that way.

* * *

><p>They spend a lot of hours up in his house, playing video games. The first time he drags her up, it's a Sunday, the second visit after the tour he's given her of San Fransokyo, and they end up playing for <em>hours <em>until Cass calls from the kitchen if they want dinner.

They spend the whole dinner talking with their mouths full of ramen noodles, because they're both determined to find out just how the other got so good at Doomed (they've played endless games, but somehow everything ends up as a tie), and by the time Dani leaves they have made arrangements for the next round of video games, and they've made bets for when someone finally gets the better of the other.

It's a while later when Dani finally declares triumph over Hiro, and Hiro's made to spend the day working at the Lucky Cat Café dressed in pink with ribbons in his hair.

But Hiro doesn't really mind, because Dani's massive grin and laughter ringing throughout the whole day more than makes up for it.

* * *

><p>It's another week before he brings her down to their garage which he calls his lab, since Tadashi has his own workplace at his nerd school. He shows her a lot of their inventions, takes out the rocket boots they once put on Mochi, tells her the entire story.<p>

She doesn't know the first thing about robotics, that's for sure. But she listens and she asks questions and she beams at him so brightly and she genuinely wants to _know_ that Hiro can't help but beam back at her and spend endless hours down in the garage with her.

Sometimes, he tinkers with his own projects, too – the magnetic bearing servos that Megabot's made out of, and whatever comes into his mind at the moment. It's at times like this that Dani sprawls out over a spare chair as Hiro works, and she tells him endlessly about all the places she's been, and somehow they can end up talking until dinner time without even realising the time that's passed.

Sometimes, she gives him ideas for projects too. Usually, these are ghost-related – she tells him about something called ectoplasm – but sometimes she has really cool ideas, too, and sometimes she talks about weaponised armour and electric guitars and motorbikes and invisible burgers and apples.

Which, coming out from any other person, might sound kind of strange. It sounds kind of strange when Dani talks about them, too. But somehow, it also sounds incredibly cool.

* * *

><p>Hiro knows she's got secrets. Of course she does.<p>

She doesn't talk about her family. She never does. Occasionally, she talks about her cousin, some guy called Danny. She tells him how everyone gets confused about their names, but it's fun to confuse people. She tells him about some other people, too – a girl called Valerie, whom she considers as an older sister, and Danny's sister Jazz, and his friends Sam and Tucker.

Somehow, it feels to Hiro that Dani's whole life seems to go back to her cousin.

She doesn't mention her parents. Not ever. She only mentions, once, briefly, that her father's rich, and she doesn't have a mother. She's never had one.

Hiro can relate to that.

He asks her, once, if she's okay. If he can ever do anything to help her, because sometimes she gets moments where she stares out into the distance or get closed up and sullen, and he doesn't know what to do, because he wants to make her happy, he does, but he doesn't know how.

She glances over at him, then, and for a moment Hiro thinks she's about to tell him something. Something important.

She looks, sometimes, like she's been through more than he can ever possibly imagine, and he wants to help.

She just smiles and tells him that she's okay.

He can't tell if she's lying or if she's telling the truth.

* * *

><p>It's maybe two weeks since he first brings her down to the garage that she finally extracts a promise from Hiro to bring her when he goes bot fighting.<p>

(Eight weeks in the same city is a really long time, but when you travel the world for fun and you've got the finances for it, why not?)

They're in the loft, his and Tadashi's bedroom. It's the first time she's been up here, and Hiro has made sure that all his dirty underwear has been shoved under the bed and everything looks at least s_omewhat_ neat, though it'll never be up to Tadashi's standards of neat.

Dani doesn't seem to mind, though. She spins around on his chair as he leans back on his beanbag, checking out the telescope, the action figures, the stacks of books and half-completed gadgets.

She's ecstatic when she gets him to promise to bring her along to the bot fight later tonight.

"Yes!" she leaps off the chair into the air so high that Hiro nearly panics, but she ends up falling onto the beanbag next to him, snuggling into it and nearer to him, and _no that is not his heart rate increasing rapidly_. "Okay, okay, okay. This is so cool!"

"You _can't _let Tadashi know," he tells her. "He'll kill me! Maybe throw me off the roof!"

Dani waves a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I know how to keep a secret. Aw, man, this is so cool! How is this gonna work? I've never actually gone to a bot fight before, and with someone who's actually participating, this is _so cool _– "

Hiro grins: "You won't believe it, all I have to do is to act like some innocent little kid and they end up playing for even more money – "

* * *

><p>It's nearing on ten when Hiro sneaks out of the house, a pretty easy task considering Tadashi's still at nerd school and Aunt Cass is watching one of her soap operas. Dani is waiting outside in just a thin shirt and jeans, and Hiro frowns slightly when he sees her.<p>

"Don't you have a jacket?" he wants to know.

Dani just grins sheepishly. "I kinda forgot."

She can't tell him she flew here from the abandoned warehouse where she's staying, and it's not like she _needs _a jacket in ghost form. Actually, the truth is, she doesn't need a jacket at all. She's just more comfortable in it.

And honestly, she accidentally got her jacket drenched in some weird muck while stealing some food the other day – she hadn't gone intangible in time, and while the muck's off, it still smells like crap and there are seriously weird-looking stains on it. And there is no way she's wearing that again, not until she's found the time to clean it properly.

"You have to be cold," Hiro says, and he's about to shrug off his jacket when Dani realises what he's doing.

"No," she says, and without thinking, she reaches out and drags his jacket back onto him. Hiro's thankful for the darkness as his face heats up suddenly, with Dani's hands on his shoulders, tugging at the collar of his jacket. "I'm, like, a cold-blooded creature. I'm fine."

"But it's gonna be freezing – "

"You worry too much!" she tells him, sliding her hands into her pockets and grinning at him. "If it makes you feel better, I'll let you know if I need your jacket."

He's reluctant, but she flat-out refuses the jacket, so she trudges along beside him as they make their way to the bot fight.

His face is still flaming red from the close contact, though. And Dani's pretty grateful for the fact that she can control her heart rate, because if she couldn't, she's pretty sure it'd be accelerating like mad, or like Johnny 13 on his bike.

* * *

><p>"Can I try?"<p>

Hiro smiles nervously, sheepishly, as the crowd parts for him to face Yama. He's very aware of Dani standing just behind him, finally clad in his jacket, because it offers her at least _some _kind of protection from all the stares that two fourteen-year-old kids are getting for being out in one of the seediest areas in town.

He'll admit it, it's a pretty feeble protection. Actually, it's no protection at all. But it does make him feel just a bit better.

"I have a robot," he continues, holding out Megabot, still keeping his nervous smile on. "I made it myself."

The taunts and the laughing, Hiro's used to it. He drops some coins on the plate, drops onto the ground opposite Yama with Dani right behind him, and he effectively loses within the first couple of seconds.

"Can I try again?" he wants to know, and he risks a glance back at Dani to see the confused expression on her face clear away, and a smile split her face.

It's kind of stupid, he thinks, but it's like her smile lights up this whole dark alleyway.

_Focus, Hiro!_

* * *

><p>"Yama?"<p>

Megabot is snatched out of Hiro's hands before he can fully comprehend what's going on, and he gulps nervously as Yama glares down at him, a circle of dark, bulky-looking thugs behind him.

"Teach him a lesson."

_Dani. Where's Dani?_

Oh dear god this is all his fault, he knows she's somewhere about, the last time he caught sight of her was just before he started scooping up his money, this is bad this is so very very bad and he isn't just about to get pummelled into oblivion, _Dani what about Dani – _

Oh dear god they're staring down at him menacingly, and Tadashi is _so _going to kill him but _shit where the hell is Dani _–

"Excuse me."

He sees a small, pale hand attached to a dark blue sleeve tap one of the big guys' shoulder.

He knows that hand, just as he knows that voice.

_Dani? But what's she doing she's got to get out – _

His own question is answered when there's a loud _crack_, a loud howl, and the thug is on the ground clutching at his jaw and Dani is holding up her fist, glaring down at the guy.

"Shouldn't you people know to pick someone your own size?" she wants to know, and she gives the thug an almighty shove as he lets out another yell of pain.

Hiro feels his jaw dropping in shock as he stares at her in disbelief, and he's vaguely aware of the rest of Yama's guys staring at her as well. Did she just - ?

"What the – "

One of the guys lumbers up to her, scowling, as her back's facing him, still looking down at the fallen man on the ground, and Hiro reacts instinctively: "Dani!"

He doesn't even have the time to move before she whirls around and thumps him straight on the chest with her foot, sending him staggering backwards.

"I think that's two points to me, and none for you," says Dani in a sing-song voice, and Hiro realises that she is actually _smiling_, grinning as she leaps over so that she's standing next to him: "You okay?"

"I'm good," he says, almost faintly. "Dani, what – "

"Listen, kid," growls another voice, and the third of Yama's men loom up over them: "I don't know how the hell you both did that, but – "

"You know, I figured from the gross outfit and the smell that you have serious hygiene issues, but don't you have any _manners_?" Dani wants to know. "Don't you know that it's _rude _to interrupt a conversation?"

She doesn't give him chance to answer, because she leaps up, so high that Hiro thinks again, for a moment, that she's flying, and then she pounds the guy into the ground so hard that he lets out a high-pitched, girly shriek.

Dani punches a fist into the air: "Best night _ever_!"

"You little bitch!" one of the men says, attempting to clamber back onto his feet – and just then, there is the loud roar of an engine and a red scooter skids into view, with a very familiar figure sitting astride it.

* * *

><p>"Hiro, get on!"<p>

"Tadashi! Good timing!" Hiro grins in relief as he leaps up onto the bike, grabbing Dani's hand and hauling her up in front of him: "Come on, Dani!"

"You brought _Dani_?" Tadashi sounds furious, as the scooter comes to life again and starts speeding down the alleyway. The spare helmet is slammed onto Hiro's head, but Hiro keeps his hands on Tadashi's shoulders and keeps Dani in the middle between them.

"You okay?" Tadashi demands.

"Yeah!"

"Are you hurt?"

"No!"

"Then what were you thinking?" Tadashi somehow manages to whack Hiro with his arms while avoiding Dani. "Knucklehead! And you brought Dani?"

"I asked," Dani supplies.

Tadashi ignores her. Hiro figures this is probably what his older brother feels is the best option.

"You graduate high school when you're thirteen, and this is what you're doing?" he wants to know, and his eyes widen slightly as he sees Yama and his men racing towards them. Hiro thinks he feels Dani wince slightly and mutter something along the lines of "should've knocked them out harder". Tadashi's grip on the handles tighten. "Hang on!"

Dani lets out a loud whoop as Tadashi soars up on the ramp and into the air, and Hiro can't help but let out an exhilarated yell of his own.

* * *

><p>"Bot fighting is illegal! You're gonna get yourself arrested!"<p>

"Bot fighting's _not_ illegal! Betting on bot-fighting, that's – _that's _illegal – but so lucrative!"

Dani figures that this is not the best time to interrupt the conversation.

"I am on a _roll, _big brother,and there's no stopping me!"

* * *

><p>It's a few hours later that she's sitting in a jail cell with Hiro, looking meekly over to where Tadashi is stuck inside another cell with Yama and a bunch of other gross, sweaty men.<p>

"Worst night ever," she says.


	5. making phone calls and discoveries

**hey guys! thank you for _all _the reviews, and favs, and follows! it's been a hectic first week back at school, but...here comes chapter five! hope you guys like it.**

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry I got you into this mess."<p>

Dani glances up and looks over at Hiro, who is huddled against the wall. He's refused to take his jacket back, so she's still hanging onto it, and to be very honest, she doesn't really want to let his jacket go.

"This mess?" she repeats.

He nods, and gestures around the cell. "You know. Here. In the police station. I mean, I didn't exactly expect to end up here." He winces and hangs his head down. "I mean, you know, I really wish it hadn't turned out that way. With Yama. It doesn't usually. Most of them just let me go off with the money. And – I – yeah. You probably don't want to talk to me again. Since I got you landed in here. And I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry. I mean, I don't talk to people much in general, and I just kind of totally ruined this friendship, didn't I, and I – "

"_Hiro_."

He winces again, and peeks up at her through his mess of dark hair – and his eyes widen slightly as he realises that Dani is _smiling_. Not an awkward, 'it's okay', kind of smile, but a full-on, split-your-face, thousand-megawatt smile.

"Hey, don't look so upset," she says, and she moves over so she's sitting next to him, and she punches his shoulder affectionately. "I've been in worse. Besides, it was kind of fun."

"You've been in _worse_?"

Hiro stares at her in disbelief.

"This is probably one of the nicer police stations I've been in," says Dani.

"But – why would you end up in a _police station_?"

This time, it's Dani's turn to wince. "I may have gotten caught stealing a couple of times."

"_Stealing_?"

"You know. Food. Sometimes clothes."

She says this like it's perfectly natural for her to be caught stealing, or as if it's perfectly natural for her to _have _to steal food and clothes.

"But," she continues, frowning slightly, "I think I've usually been caught for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Kind of like today."

She grins at him again.

"Why would you be at the wrong place at the wrong time?" Hiro wants to know. "I mean, I know your family travels a lot, but – how _often _d'you get dragged into police stations?"

"I dunno, I kinda lost count after the first four or five times," says Dani.

Hiro stares at her: "First four or five times?"

She just shrugs. "People always think you're trouble when you hang around the streets a lot."

"Why would you be hanging around the streets a lot?" Hiro asks, baffled, as Dani leans against his shoulder and glances out across the bars that separate them from Tadashi. His heart leaps up, erratically, for a moment, before slowing down as she adjusts herself slightly and rests her weight on him.

He notices, just vaguely, how scrawny she is.

"It kind of happens when you don't really know what to do with your time," she says, but she's facing away from him and Hiro has a nagging feeling that she's lying to him.

He remembers the way she punched the thugs in the alleyway earlier that night.

What secret is Dani hiding?

* * *

><p>The police officer stands across her, looking at her patiently as he gestures for Dani to pick up the phone.<p>

"Do I really have to?" Dani wants to know. "You could, um, just let me go. I wasn't doing anything illegal."

The police officer raises his eyebrows. "Sorry, kid, it doesn't work that way. You gotta call your parents to get you."

"Don't have any."

"A guardian, then." The police officer doesn't miss a beat; Dani figures that he's seen more than his share of orphaned kids running through here after getting into trouble. She can tell, though, that he's curious how come a girl like her has ended up with Hiro and Tadashi.

Goddammit. If it weren't for Hiro and Tadashi peering at her anxiously, she could just go intangible and invisible and run out of this place completely, the way she's done what must be a million times before. No one would believe the officer, or any camera tapes, that she'd just vanished into thin air.

But she's still wearing Hiro's jacket, and they _are _looking at her anxiously through the glass, and to be honest, she doesn't want to leave San Fransokyo without a proper goodbye.

Who _can _she call?

There's only one person she actually _can _call, to be honest.

She sighs and picks up the phone, and dials a familiar number.

"Whoever this is, I hope you have a good reason for calling me at this hour," a familiar voice snaps at her as an annoyed someone picks up on the other end, and she has to grind her teeth.

"Good morning, Vlad."

There's a pause.

"Danielle?" the voice asks, and Dani can hear the incredulous tone in it. To be fair, if she wasn't desperate, she wouldn't be contacting him _at all_. He lets her have his money, sure, but that's where all lines of communication end with them. She never contacts him, and he never contacts her. "Why on earth are you calling _me_?"

"I'm kind of stuck in a police station."

She can hear the sound of sheets being adjusted.

"Surely with your abilities, you'd be able to get yourself out of that mess?"

"In normal circumstances, yes. But I've got friends with me."

"Friends?" Vlad Masters echoes, the astonishment in his voice clear. "Well, that's certainly new. So what is it you would like me to do?"

"To get me out, of course, why else would I call you?"

Dani can see the police officer giving her a dirty look, and she rolls her eyes and sticks out her tongue at him before turning her attention back to the phone. She can hear Vlad sighing on the other end.

"Touchy, aren't we? Very well."

* * *

><p>Vlad doesn't come over to San Fransokyo, of course. He is, after all, all the way in Amity Park. Dani hands over the phone back to the police officer, whose face grows pale as Vlad speaks to him, and then there's a long list of people handing the phone around and lots of tapping away at keyboards and computers and hushed mutters.<p>

Dani figures there can't be that many kids hauled in here who have guardians that are some of the richest men in the world.

Ah, the power of money. It disgusts her, that's true – how can it _not_? – but she has to admit she's occasionally grateful.

When her ghost sense goes off and she spots three familiar, glowing-green birds hidden in the shadows of the ceiling, she just sighs again and swings her feet back and forth as she watches from her cell.

"What's going on?" Hiro wants to know, watching flustered police officers sail past, casting glances over at them.

"I called my father," is all Dani will tell him. Her face is glum, and she's tugging the sleeves of his jacket over her hands as she sinks back into the wall: "Don't ask, would you?"

* * *

><p>It takes a while, but she's finally out. Vlad's passed on the story to her – she's an orphaned child that he found wandering around the streets and unofficially took in and adopted, choosing to keep the story small so that the press wouldn't find out, and who's decided to run away and has only now been found.<p>

Admittedly, it's not a particularly strong story, but it'll do. Especially when coming from someone as rich and influential as Vlad Masters, who's known to do the strangest things – like running for mayor in a tiny town overrun by ghosts.

Unfortunately, this story also has a high probability of Dani getting dragged into foster care. _Again_.

"Can't you do anything?" she wants to know, hissing into the phone that's been passed back to her.

"Really, Danielle, you were the one who got yourself arrested," Vlad says. "There's only so much I can do. Now, if you decided to come back to stay with me at Amity Park permanently, on the other hand – "

"Not a chance. You really want a fourteen-year-old girl messing up your mansion?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it _does _get lonely from time to time, Danielle." She hears a sigh on the other end. "Really, if you're so insistent on not staying with me, I don't see what's the problem with foster care. You're more than capable of leaving once you're unhappy."

"Yeah, but Hiro doesn't know I'm homeless!"

"Hiro?" echoes Vlad, and Dani bites down on her lip. "Well, that is certainly an interesting name. Unfortunately, it seems like your friend has no choice but to find out. I'm sure the foster families in San Fransokyo aren't so bad. I'll send along someone to pick you up in due time. I do have to put up the act of a guardian now."

"Vlad – "

"Really, Danielle, there's only so much I can do with money."

Dani grinds her teeth. "_Fine. _Thanks, Vlad."

"Ah, so there's where your manners went. You're welcome, Danielle."

* * *

><p>"What about you?" Hiro wants to know, when he and Tadashi are released from their cells. Dani's still standing outside the cell, gloomily, a police officer's hand on her shoulder. He knows Aunt Cass is waiting outside, but they can wait for Dani's family. "We'll wait for your family to come pick you up."<p>

It _is _his fault she's stuck in here, after all.

Dani bites her lip as the police officer glances down in something like surprise.

For once, she doesn't say anything.

It's the police officer who clears his throat slightly and turns to address Tadashi instead. "She'll be going into the foster care system. We're about to call for a social worker."

"Whoa, _what_?"

Hiro stares in disbelief at Dani, as does Tadashi – and it's the older SFIT student who sees it all fall into place. The strange looks on Dani's face, her evasiveness every time she talks about her family, the way she has all the time in the world to spare and how she slips easily into any crowd.

"You're homeless."

Dani squirms uncomfortably under Tadashi's gaze. "Well, yeah."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hiro demands, stepping forwards. "You could've told us! You could've stayed with us, or at least let us know, or _something _– "

Dani just shrugs. "I know how to take care of herself," she says, but there's a glum tone in her voice that says she's definitely not pleased with this turn of events. "Besides, you guys would get worried for no reason at all."

"You shouldn't have run away from Mr Masters," says the police officer disapprovingly, and Hiro watches as Dani grinds her teeth and a look of annoyance flash across her face. "It was very good of him to take you in."

"Yeah, I didn't ask him to, did I?" Dani snaps. "I'm not a charity case. Besides, that fruitloop's got better things to do with his money and time – "

"Why can't you stay with us?" Hiro wants to know, interrupting. "We could take you in. You could stay over. You can take my bed, I can sleep with Tadashi, or I can take the sofa. I mean, you know, if you want to, then you could stay with us, because, you know, I mean, you know us already, and – I mean – if you want to – "

His face is turning redder by the minute as he stutters out the last few words, and he can already feel his face heating up from Dani's looking at him.

After a moment, he peeks up at her through his messy dark hair.

She isn't looking at him strangely. In fact, she doesn't even look the least bit freaked out by his abrupt offer.

She looks almost as embarrassed as he thinks he must look.

"Would it be possible, sir?" Tadashi decides to ask, then.

"Call Vlad," Dani says, immediately. "He wouldn't mind. He'll sign whatever you need."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," says the officer, looking slightly smug. "We can't allow that to happen. And as you well know, Mr Masters has asked us to put you in foster care – "

"No, he didn't," says Dani immediately, and she is frowning, glaring at the officer so furiously that he steps back instinctively. "He told you to make sure I was well taken care of until he could send someone to look after me. Don't lie to me. I hate liars."

The police officer gapes at her for a moment.

Hiro wonders if it's because a fourteen-year-old has never spoken to him before, or because of the almost-dangerous tone in Dani's voice.

She turns to Hiro and Tadashi, and dredges up a tired smile. "Go on," she tells them. "I'll be fine. Really."

"But – "

"Look, just go," she says. "Your aunt's probably waiting outside. And you can still call me whenever."

Hiro can tell that Tadashi is about unhappy with this situation as he is.

But they end up walking out of the station anyway, Hiro craning his neck over his shoulder until the doors swing shut and he can't see Dani anymore.

* * *

><p>In Amity Park, Danny floats in the middle of Vlad's office in his ghost form, arms crossed, glaring at his arch nemesis.<p>

"Really?" he wants to know. "You sent the Box Ghost to get me to come to your stupid mansion? You could've at least sent Skulker. The Box Ghost just gets on my nerves."

"My dear boy, the Box Ghost gets on everyone's nerves," says Vlad. "And I had a favour to ask of you, one that's rather urgent, you see."

"You couldn't send one of your stupid vultures?"

"They're otherwise preoccupied, Daniel. In fact, they're helping me keep a watch on the – situation, I would say."

Danny just glares. "And why would I help you?"

Vlad sighs, but he leans back in his chair and smirks, tapping his fingers together: "Because, Daniel, the favour isn't for _me_. It's for Danielle."

"Dani?" Danny's head shoots up, his eyes wide: "What happened to her? What did you do to her this time?"

"You really mustn't jump to conclusions," says Vlad. "So rash, Daniel. She had a little run-in with the law, and she can't get out quite so easily this time. In fact, I rather think she's grown rather attached to the place. I'll pass you the papers and all the proper credentials, and you can go get her from the foster family she's staying with temporarily."

"How on earth did she get _caught_?"

"Like I said, my dear boy, she's grown rather attached, I believe. To a certain _someone_, I should say."

"A certain – _someone_?" Danny's voice is hostile, but undeniably curious.

"Oh, yes," says Vlad. "In fact, considering how she has _your _DNA, I am rather surprised to find that she's been spending her time with a child prodigy who graduated from high school at age thirteen and who is now an extremely accomplished bot fighter – but then again, life is full of surprises, isn't it?"

"A child prodigy?" Danny's voice is suspicious, now.

"Oh, yes."

"And this child prodigy is a – is a _girl_, isn't she?"

There's a strange light in Vlad's eyes as he chuckles. "Oh, no, Daniel. No, you see, Danielle's been spending her time with a young boy her age named Hiro Hamada. In fact, you'll find that he's the reason she got herself arrested in the first place."

Danny hardly realises that his feet is now on the hard wooden floor, that he's standing directly in front of Vlad, until his hands land on the table and he glares down at the older man, his eyes glowing green: "Tell me where she is."


	6. danny fenton

**hey guys! **

**just wanted to say...thank you _so much _for all the reviews! it's really meant a lot to me, even though i don't reply each one individually haha. but, yeah.**

**okay, so this chapter is finally up! doesn't feel so good though ): let me know what you think _please! even _if you think it's super anti-climatic. eesh. sorry about that **

* * *

><p>"Oh, c'mon, Danny, I already said that I'm sorry – "<p>

"_Sorry _doesn't cut it, Danielle!"

Dani swings her legs as she sits on a bench in one of the parks in San Fransokyo, watching Danny as he paces up and down before her. She feels guilty, so guilty – though she's getting really, _really _mad at Vlad.

Oh, yeah, she's grateful that he helped her out. She'll thank him, of course.

_After _punching him, perhaps.

"I had to get Sam and Tucker to cover for me while I came to get you," Danny says, still pacing up and down. He looks frustrated, his hair in a mess, stomping up and down the path. It's been maybe half an hour since she finally left that stupidly annoying foster family with Danny, after he produced the papers and identification and whatnot that Vlad gave him.

She loves Danny. She really does.

She also wishes that Vlad hadn't said a thing about Hiro.

_Stupid fruit-loop_.

"So right now, Amity Park's just protected by them, Jazz, and Valerie," says Danny. "But I'm not even mad about that. You wanna know why I'm not mad about that?"

He stops, whirls around to face her, hands on his hips, and Dani winces slightly.

"I'm mad because you got yourself arrested because of some boy!"

"I didn't get arrested _because _of him!" says Dani indignantly, straightening up. "I just could've _not _gotten arrested if he hadn't been there. But if he hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been there, so that's just totally not valid! It wasn't like it was part of his plan to get me arrested!"

"No," Danny agrees. "No, it better not have been. Really, Danielle? You were in one of the shadiest areas in this place! Alone! At night! With a guy! With a guy _you didn't even tell me about_!"

"You know I can take care of myself – "

Danny waves a hand dismissively. "I don't care about you being there. You know how to take care of yourself."

At that, Dani feels a swell of pride.

"I care about you going out on dates in the middle of the night with some guy I don't even know about! With some guy _nobody _knows about!"

"Valerie knows."

Oh, man.

Danny's head whips around. "_What_?"

_Oops_. Not the best idea. Really not the best idea to have mentioned that.

Who'd have thought that Danny Fenton would be so overprotective?

"You mean you told _Valerie _but you didn't tell me?"

"It's a girl thing!"

"A girl thing," Danny repeats, almost faintly. "You really like this guy, don't you?"

Dani looks down at the ground guiltily. "He's a good friend."

There is silence between the two of them, and something tugs at Dani's heart. She knows that she is more than capable of taking care of herself – Danny knows this, too. He has, after all, heard her many stories every time she comes back to visit.

But he's still worried, and he's all the way in San Fransokyo on the other side of the country because of _her_.

"I want to meet him," Danny says, finally.

Dani looks up sharply: "What?"

"I want to meet this guy," Danny Fenton repeats. "I cannot believe you let yourself be alone with him and I can't believe you kept it a secret from me, but you seem pretty attached to him. So I want to meet him."

There is another moment of silence.

And then Danny is tackled to the ground as his clone/sister/cousin flings her arms around him and sends him toppling backwards, her laughter ringing in his ears.

* * *

><p>"Dani!"<p>

It's Aunt Cass who sees the scruffy-haired girl walk into the café with a tall, skinny boy behind her, but she just about drops everything to rush out from behind the counter and hug her.

"Hi, Aunt Cass," she thinks she hears Dani mumble.

"I was _so _worried!" Aunt Cass sets her back on the ground properly, hands on the girl's shoulders, looking at the sheepish smile on her face. "Why didn't you say _anything_? We could've looked after you! Taken care of you! When Tadashi and Hiro came out, Hiro couldn't say anything, he was so upset, and then Tadashi had to explain everything, and I really should be lecturing you about going to an illegal bot-fight, young lady, but you're okay and that's what matters and why didn't you tell us? You didn't have to be alone, and Hiro was so worried, and – "

It's at this point that the boy behind Dani shifts his weight, and Cass' head glances up.

Her first thought is that the boy must be Dani's twin, but that's impossible. He looks at least two to three years older than her, but the resemblance is uncanny – he's practically a male version of the skinny girl before her.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Cass," says Dani. "This is Danny. My cousin."

"Your cousin?" Aunt Cass says. "And where were _you _when she was running around homeless? Didn't you know where she was? Didn't you care? And she's been staying alone here for at least a month, this place can get so dangerous at night – "

"Aunt Cass," says Dani. "Do you know where Hiro is?"

Aunt Cass blinks.

"Ohmygoodness, you're right, I should have told you from the start! He's been worried sick, but no one's been able to tell him anything about where you went, so he's just working on his project to submit for the SFIT showcase – "

"SFIT showcase?" Dani repeats. "Isn't that Tadashi's school?"

"Oh, yes, but – you know what, I'll have Hiro explain it to you. He's in the garage! You know where it is – go, go – "

The Fentons finds themselves unceremoniously shoved out of the Lucky Cat Café.

* * *

><p>"I'm worried about her, Tadashi," Hiro says for what Tadashi thinks must be the forty-third time that day.<p>

Tadashi supposes that forty three is still a reasonable number, considering just how worried Hiro is about Dani.

"I'm sure she's fine," says Tadashi. "Dani knows how to take care of herself!" _I hope_. "Besides, they wouldn't place her with an abusive foster family or anything, if that's what you're worried about. And you heard it yourself, someone from her adopted family will be coming to pick her up."

"But it's my fault," says Hiro, glumly. "I mean, I brought her to that stupid bot fight, and then there was stupid Yama, and then the cops, and then everything went kind of haywire, and nothing was going right, but I could't say no to her, you know?"

"You never can," says Tadashi, but for once he is completely ignored.

"And there's something wrong with her phone, every time I try calling her, some DALV company or something tries saying that her number's been shut down, or that the service has problems, and all that. And I can't get through to her, and I don't know where she is, and I can't believe this what if I never see her again - "

* * *

><p>"That was awfully a lot like having a train ram at you," observes Danny as Dani leads him to what must be the garage. "With words, of course."<p>

"Yeah, Aunt Cass is like that."

"Aunt Cass, huh?"

Dani flushes slightly pink. "It's easier than calling her Ms Hamada all the time. And besides, it's what Hiro and Tadashi call her too. I just heard it so often."

"She's their aunt?"

"Yeah. Their parents died in a car crash when Hiro was three."

It's at this point that Dani leads him into what must be the coolest garage that Danny has ever seen. For sure, it's nothing like the lab back at FentonWorks, but still – seriously cool. It's definitely a lab, but not like any kind of lab that Danny has ever seen before. If Tucker ever came in here, Danny figures it would be like his birthday, Christmas, and everything that involves present rolled into one.

But it's not the computers, or diagrams, or sweet technology that's littered all around the garage that grabs his attention.

No, it's the two boys staring very hard at some sort of holographic image and talking, using their hands to expand the image and jab at it.

"Hey, that's cool."

It's just three words, but Danny can see the smaller boy stiffen in his chair at the sound of Dani's voice, he can see the older boy swing around with a wide smile on his face.

"Dani!" the older boy says, getting up and jumping over, grabbing her in an one-armed hug and ruffling her hair: "I thought you were going to end up out of our lives for good!"

Dani grins: "Hey, Tadashi." She sticks out her tongue at him: "You're not getting rid of me that easily." Then her eyes fall on the smaller boy, who hasn't yet turned around: "Hiro - ?"

"_You scared the hell out of me_!"

Hiro Hamada doesn't do hugs, but he leaps over and crosses his arms and stares very hard at Dani. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were _homeless_! You could've stayed with us! Aunt Cass wouldn't have minded! And you know I already graduated, and there's a guestroom, and you could've just stayed and you didn't have to be alone, and you could have been with us, and I can't believe you just – I mean, in the alleyway? That was so cool, but what were you thinking, you could've gotten hurt so badly! And I can't believe you didn't tell me – you could've said _something _– I mean, I've known you for more than three weeks, you could've just bunked over – "

Hiro's face is turning redder and redder by the second.

"And then they wouldn't tell us where you'd gone, and I had no idea how to find you, and then whenever I called you I just got this super-preppy voice saying that I couldn't access the number anymore, and then – "

"What d'you mean, you couldn't access my number?" Dani wants to know, her face slightly pink as well, as she grasps at the only thing that she can. "Danny could call me fine!"

"Danny?"

Dani nods her head energetically, and then turns to drag Danny out from behind one of the computer screens he's been staring at. "Danny, this is Tadashi and Hiro. Hiro, Tadashi, this is my cousin Danny."

"You guys have the same name?" Tadashi asks, but there's a look in his eyes that makes Danny think he's in for an interrogation later on how he could've let his younger cousin be homeless for three months.

"Our parents didn't realise," explains Danny, and then he turns to the younger Hamada, face still slightly red: "So _you're _Hiro?"

There is something in Danny's face that makes Hiro swallow slightly and nod.

Dani's cousin. _Dani's cousin_? He looks really protective of Dani. Like, super-ultra-protective. Like, _oh god what if he says something wrong and Danny decides to turn him into a punching bag_? Not like Danny looks like a bully, or that Hiro can't defend himself. He'd just really prefer Dani's family _not _to dislike him –

_Focus, Hiro_!

"Yeah," he manages to say. "Yeah, I'm Hiro."

"So _you're _the reason Danielle got arrested?"

He's frowning sternly, hands on his hips.

It runs through Hiro's mind, how strange it is to hear Dani being called _Danielle._

"Danny!" says Dani, sounding exasperated as she throws Hiro an _I'm sorry _look and something warms in his chest: "I told you it wasn't his fault – "

"No, no, it kind of was," says Hiro, cutting in. "I mean, betting on bot fights are illegal, and I figured people were gonna be there doing that, and there was always a chance of that, but I didn't know that Yama was such a sore loser, but – uh – we got out okay in the end, didn't we?"

Hiro tries for a sheepish smile.

Danny glares at him.

"Danny Fenton," Dani growls through gritted teeth, "I swear, on Ember McLain's freaking guitar, if you don't – "

"So you go to this stuff even though you know it's illegal?"

"Bot fighting isn't illegal, _betting _on bot fighting is. And I'm a bot fighter!" says Hiro defensively, and catches Tadashi face-palming from the side – "I mean, _ex-_bot fighter. I am totally putting my brains to good use now. Nerd school's the next goal."

"Nerd school?"

"College," Tadashi explains, "San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. One of the most prestigious universities you'll find around here."

"You're fourteen," says Danny.

"Why should that stop me?" argues Hiro.

"What're you trying to do with my cousin, anyway?"

It's clear the question's caught Hiro off-guard, because his jaw drops and his face flames red. Dani's cheeks have turned pink as well, and she looks ready to punch her cousin into the ground, while Tadashi is now leaning against the wall, trying to control his laughter.

"We're friends," Hiro stammers.

"_Friends_," repeats Danny.

"Danny," sighs Dani.

Danny just shrugs.

"I think Vlad may have had something to do with your phone," the older boy adds after a moment. "He's definitely got the money for it. Could've set it up so it wouldn't accept any calls from your boyfriend over here."

"Probably," mutters Dani. "Crazy old fruit-loop. I'm going to kill him." And then something else from the sentence registers in her mind: "He's _not _my boyfriend!"

"Yeah, well." Danny turns a glare on Hiro, who somehow finds it in himself to stare back without flinching. Danny looks about as skinny as Fred, but Hiro doesn't doubt that there's some serious muscle packed behind those wiry arms. "I swear, you try anything funny, and you'll find yourself never being able to – "

Tadashi clears his throat.

"Hey, my brother wouldn't do anything funny."

"Yeah, well," Danny repeats, in a sceptical tone.

* * *

><p>Tadashi ends up sitting with Danny Fenton on the sofa, watching as Hiro explains to Dani excitedly about his visit to Tadashi's lab and his currently working on his microbots. It's clear that Dani's getting lost at the technical bits, but it doesn't seem to matter much to her or to Hiro – Danny can't remember ever having seen the girl look so happy, apart from after she got re-stabilised.<p>

"You know, Hiro's never been particularly sociable or good with people," Tadashi comments, leaning against the pillows. "But it's different with Dani. I don't usually see him so easy with people or so relaxed. I don't ever see him smile this much with someone who isn't Aunt Cass or me, to be honest."

"I think I know what you mean," agrees Danny. "I don't see Dani all that often, but I've never seen her smile like this."

"Got worried for her, huh?"

"You have no idea." There's a strange smile on Danny's face. "I know you're thinking that we just let her run off. But it's a good life for her."

"But she could get hurt," argues Tadashi. "Look at the bot fight! They were nearly beaten up."

"But Dani stopped them," Danny points out. "I don't really care about stuff like that. Danielle knows how to take care of herself. She's a good person, and her survival instincts aren't so bad." He's grinning again. "Nah, it's just the mention of your brother that got me worried."

Tadashi laughs at that: "So you weren't worried about the bot fight at all, but you were worried about her going somewhere with Hiro?"

"Sounds messed up," Danny agrees. "But that is how it works."

There's a loud shriek of laughter, suddenly, and the two glance up to catch sight of Dani scrambling past tottering stacks of equipment as Hiro chases after her.

The look on Danny's face softens slightly.


	7. fillers

She makes him feel like he could fly.

Okay, he'll admit that it sounds kind of cheesy. Like, _seriously _cheesy. I mean, even his brother's never said anything like that, not even when he was totally hung up over that blond girl with the icy blue eyes a couple of years ago. And Tadashi is totally much more lame than Hiro will ever be.

But still. If there's one thing that he'll admit (to himself only, of course), is that being around Dani makes him feel like he can fly.

Well, perhaps not literally. After all, that is pretty impossible (though he's working on that – after his microbots, maybe he'll go figure something out).

But Dani does seem to make everything a little better. It's like the world is in high-definition colour now, not greyish and fuzzing around the edges.

She's sitting across him now, flicking through one of his old notebooks while he yammers on about his microbots and gets to figuring out his neuro-cranial transmitter headband. Dani doesn't really understand much of what he says, but for some reason, she still listens anyway, and sometimes Hiro thinks she knows a whole lot more than she lets on.

She never makes him feel like an outcast, like he's some sort of nerd who can't get along with anyone or who'll always be out on the sidelines because nobody's on the same wavelength as him (except maybe 'Dashi).

Her cousin Danny is still slouched on the sofa next to Tadashi, and they're deep in conversation. Hiro can hear a lot about something called ectoplasm, and a ghost portal, and some guy called Skulky and another called Tech? Or something like that. It sounds vaguely familiar, probably from Dani's stories about ghosts.

On almost any other occasion, he'd be pretty interested and all over what Danny and Tadashi are talking about. It sounds like Danny is talking about ghost-fighting tech, and if Tadashi's interested in it, it must be pretty cool.

(But then again, his brother is also interested in being a huge nerd. So maybe not.)

It's just that Hiro's finding it hard to tear himself away from his microbots, and more importantly, Dani.

* * *

><p>Danny can't stay, of course. A day away from Amity Park and his family is almost a disaster on its own – that place, and those people, need Danny like they've never needed anyone. In fact, the only thing still keeping Danny in San Fransokyo is the fact that he's still not really sure what to do with Dani.<p>

That, and the fact that Jazz called him up a while ago and gave him an update on everything going on (just the Lunch Lady and the Box Ghost, plus another one of Johnny 13 and Kitty's arguments) before he could make the call himself.

"She could stay with us," Tadashi offers. Hiro and Dani have disappeared long ago into the kitchen in the café, probably to raid the donuts and the ice cream and the gummy bears. "We do have a guest room."

Danny only frowns.

"I'd like to take her back with me," Danny admits, "but she'd hate it."

"Why _doesn't _she stay with you?" Tadashi wants to know. "I mean, you treat her like a younger sister. I couldn't imagine leaving Hiro out on his own."

Danny shrugs, slightly uncomfortably. "My parents don't know about her."

Tadashi gapes at him in shock.

"I mean, Dani's an amazing person," Danny continues, hurriedly. "She's one of the best and bravest people I've ever known. It's just that, when she was born, her father – he thought she was a mistake, of sorts. To him, she's not supposed to exist, and to the rest of us; well, I never knew she even existed until two years ago. It's not the best idea for her to show up out of the blue."

"But – "

Tadashi is still staring at him in shock.

"I know," Danny groans. "It's horrible. I must be the worst guy in the world. But she can't live with us, and she wants to be free to travel. So I let her do it."

There is silence, for a moment, and for some strange reason Danny doesn't want this American-Japanese boy in front of him to disapprove. To be honest, Tadashi Hamada seems like a pretty cool guy.

"She could stay," Tadashi offers again. "Here. With us. Like I said, we've got a spare room, right next to Aunt Cass'."

Danny scratches the back of his head.

"And honestly, you don't have to worry that Hiro might do anything," Tadashi chuckles. "He's too socially awkward for that."

For a moment, Danny wants to ask, _And what about you_?

But then he remembers that these are Dani's friends, and she trusts them, and maybe he should trust them too.

"Okay," he says.

* * *

><p>Dani gets a long lecture on making sure not to go looking for trouble (Danny doesn't bother lecturing her on not getting into trouble – she somehow always ends up falling into it, sooner or later) and leaves her with the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick, a Fenton Lipstick, and a Fenton Thermos.<p>

"You have to call me," says Danny, firmly. "Or Valerie, at the very least."

Dani rolls her eyes at that: "I'll be fine, Danny!"

"Yeah, yeah," he mutters. "Sure you will."

She just laughs: "You're the best cousin ever, you know?"

"I should be," he says.

Tadashi asks him how he's getting back home and where home is, but Danny shrugs off his questions evasively, and with a final fist bump to Dani and a wave to the Hamadas, slouches off down the street, searching for somewhere he can go ghost and fly home.

"Your cousin's pretty cool," Tadashi says, when Danny has disappeared around a corner.

"He is," Dani agrees, and there's pride in her voice: "He's the best person ever in the entire world."

* * *

><p>Aunt Cass sets up the guest room for her, and Dani helps out with dinner and with clearing up the café, and she spends most of the evening in the Hamada brothers' room.<p>

"It's probably a good thing that she's here," says Tadashi to Aunt Cass. "If not, he'd still be stuck in the garage."

"You boys spend all your time there," sighs Aunt Cass, and she rolls her eyes.

"Well, now you've got me," Tadashi grins, and he nudges her, taking another scoop of his ice cream. They're sitting downstairs, in front of the TV while Aunt Cass waits for her programme to start, and upstairs he can hear thumping on the ground and loud laughter and endless talking.

"Until you finally decide to ask GoGo out," says Aunt Cass, and Tadashi nearly chokes on his ice cream.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, look, my programme's starting," Aunt Cass says, cheerfully.

* * *

><p>It's an endless week of late nights and gummy bears and hours in the garage, perfecting the microbots and the neuro-cranial transmitter. Dani's not much help with the technical bits, but she helps out where she can and she's always ready to bring in some snacks from the café or help eat the pizza that Fred brings over.<p>

It's the first day that Fred walks into the garage and Dani's sitting perched on a chair that the boy in the beanie stops, stares, and then grins, widely: "Hey, it's you!"

She blinks, jumps up and leaps into the air to high-five him: "Fredzilla!"

"What're you doing here, Supergirl?" Fred wants to know.

Dani frowns: "I told you not to call me that!"

He waves a hand dismissively: "C'mon, man, it's totally cool."

"You two know each other?" says Hiro, eyes widening slightly.

"She helps out at the same orphanages and stuff I do, sometimes," says Fred, grinning, now resting his arm on top of Dani's head and leaning on her, easily. She looks almost amused, not even bothering to shrug his arm off. "You should see her! It's like she's flying half the time, she does this really cool stuff with these green lights, and it's like she's in five places at once, sometimes – "

"Don't exaggerate," says Dani.

"I'm totally not," says Fred. "How d'you know the little man, here? Your boyfriend?"

Hiro turns bright red, Tadashi chokes on his soda, and Dani abruptly shoves Fred's arm off her head: "We're not together!"

Fred blinks; and then, he grins, slowly: "Sure thing, Supergirl."

Dani frowns.

* * *

><p>Dani likes GoGo and Wasabi and Honey Lemon. Fred she already knows, and since he knows only slightly more about science than she does, they're usually the motivational support for Hiro and, as Fred puts it, "his number one fans". GoGo's great – she doesn't say much, but in all honesty, she's probably one of the coolest people that Dani's ever met. Wasabi's hilarious, and he's comfortable to be around, though he's as horrified at the messy trail she leaves behind her everywhere the same way she's as horrified at his OCD-ness. And Honey Lemon? She's so ridiculously friendly and comforting and nice that Dani can't help but feel that it's easy to be around her.<p>

"So the showcase is tomorrow," says Hiro, that last evening. Dani's just gotten off the phone with Valerie, and before that with Danny, and she's sprawled across Hiro's bed as he's sitting perched on the beanbag, twitching slightly.

"Your microbots are perfect," says Dani, immediately. "You are _not _spending the night in the garage!"

"But – "

"Don't even think about it."

Hiro mutters something under his breath, sighs. "You'll be there, right?"

She blinks in disbelief: "Of course I'll be there!"

He smiles at her, a huge smile of relief.

"That's great," he says, and then he clears his throat, repeats: "That's – that's great."

She beams at him, a contagious smile, and Hiro feels like his face is going to split from smiling.

* * *

><p><strong>short filler chapter omg forgive please HAHA what do you think?<strong>


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